Foreign Elements In Modern Newspaper Text: The Russian Newspaper For 2018–2019)

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the functioning of language means in modern newspaper discourse, techniques for the inclusion of lexical elements into a text, which are traditionally attributed not to newspaper-journalistic, but to other speech styles that change the canons of standard speech. An important style feature of the modern newspapers language has become simplicity, in some cases it reaches the primitiveness of information, this is the so-called “light” style. The simplicity and ease of material presentation allows expanding the range of potential readers and increasing the number of topics covered in a publication. Using individual-author speech tactics the journalists are looking for new ways to attract the audience by creating an original, bright text. In recent years, significant changes have taken place in the newspaper language – along with traditional lexical means, copyright style elements are increasingly being used. Media texts abound in units that have not previously been attributed to the newspaper-journalistic style. Increasingly, words and phrases in quotation marks appear in texts. If earlier the quotation marks were mainly introduced to show “foreign speech”, quotes, now the functions of this sign have slightly changed. The modern journalistic style is characterized by the use of a large amount of expressive means, which is its specificity. The language of newspapers is a combination of standard and expression, however, the use of various emotional-expressive means depends on the author’s position. In recent years, there has been a trend towards a gradual quantitative growth of foreign language units.

Keywords: Newspaper-journalistic style, modern language of Russian media, emotional-expressive means, words and phrases in quotation marks, foreign elements, emotive punctuation marks

Introduction

Researchers of the language of modern media, newspapers, in particular, have recently been paying attention to its growing expressiveness (Budnichenko, 2004). Previously, such characteristic features of the media language were noted as the expansion of the lexical combination of words, the figurative use of lexical units, the metaphorical use of terminology, high book and evaluation vocabulary, updated phraseologies, aphorisms, proverbs and sayings, etc. (Kozhina, 1977). This refers to the study of the newspaper language of the 1970s of the 20th century. We can talk about the increased expressiveness of the newspaper language, because an author-publicist seeks to work creatively with the text. However, the use of various emotionally expressive means remains at the discretion of the author, the methods of selecting speech means are not universal (Kozhina, 1977; Kozhin et al., 1982; Krylova, 1997).

The proposed study contributes to the analysis of the modern Russian language, in particular, the language of the modern Russian newspaper (2018–2019).

The paper discusses the means of creating expressiveness in the modern newspaper language. Language units in quotation marks are in the center of attention. This method of submitting material suggests that an author-journalist refers to them as foreign elements.

The analysis covers the categories of these units, the reasons for their demonstration as foreign elements, internal mechanisms that encourage a publicist to introduce them into the newspaper text in this way.

Problem Statement

Ongoing changes in newspaper texts raise the need of updating some means of expressiveness compared to others. Particular interest in the media language, namely, the newspaper is explained by the fact that it is open for new words, borrowings, various stylistic means (Minakova et al., 2018). “In the discourse of the media, speech influence acts as a socially oriented communication and involves a change in the structure of society stimulating direct social actions through the influence on the psyche of the members of this society” (Ratsiburskaya, 2016, p. 119). Journalistic texts appeal not only to the mind, but also to the feelings of the addressee, we are talking about the figurativeness of speech, the use of language units, the figurative meaning in order to create a certain image, i.e. tropes.

It is necessary to study what uncharacteristic elements of newspaper texts have now been widely used and how they are presented in the newspaper discourse.

Research Questions

Among all functional styles, the journalistic style is mostly open for tropes.

A common extralinguistic feature of this style is its two functions in unity: the function of persuasion and the information and content function (Krylova, 1997). The author of a journalistic text tries to convey information to a reader and at the same time to form a certain attitude towards it. The journalistic style, one of the most popular varieties of which is newspaper as a type of mass communication, turns out to be a very complex phenomenon due to the heterogeneity of its tasks and communication conditions and, in general, the extralinguistic features (Kozhina, 1977). It is the journalistic style that is characterized by the use of a large variety of expressive means.

An author-publicist selects the optimal, in his opinion, means of expressiveness. According to the concept of Kostomarov (1971), unity, conjugation of expression and standard are considered the main principles of journalism. If in literary works the subtext expresses the author’s attitude, in journalism it is the text itself.

The availability of texts is achieved using common, colloquial vocabulary, verbal figurativeness.

There is an opinion that the journalistic style embodies features of both scientific and literary texts. It is in the newspaper language that the shades of significance of language units appear most vividly. Journalism is inherent in the figurative use of words, metaphors, metonymy, personification (Kozhina, 1977). However, it should be remembered that the use of various means remains at the discretion of the author, in this regard the choice of language means is of a private nature. In the modern newspaper language, the assortment of lexical units traditionally used in the language of printed press is expanding, and the increase in the variability of the expression means is also drawing attention.

The relationship between a text and the audience is characterized by mutual activity: the text seeks to liken the audience to itself, impose its code system, while the audience strikes back in kind, the text as if includes the image of its “ideal” audience – “its text” (Lotman, 2000). It can be said that the language personalities of the author and the reader have similarities. Given that the target audience is native speakers of the Russian language united by a community of cultural values and traditions, the author uses precedent texts, most often replicas from films, colloquial words and expressions, etc. This creates an atmosphere of trustful communication, emotional connection between the author and the addressee. The main objective of a publicist is to be convincing, understandable, to position the reader with the comprehensibility of presentation. “The speech effect in psychological terms is that the speaker encodes the desired changes in the meaning field of the recipient in the form of a language (speech) message, and the recipient, perceiving this message, decodes it and “extracts” deep information hidden behind the external plan (plan of meanings) causing a real or potential change in its reality” (Leontiev, 1999, p. 83).

Ongoing changes in newspaper texts raise the question of updating some means of expressiveness in comparison with others. A comprehensive analysis of articles in () makes it clear that the use of precedent texts allows the author appealing to the feelings of the addressee, inviting to support the author’s position, and establishing contact between the speaker and the addressee.

Preferably, they serve to transfer a characteristic feature from one phenomenon to another. “Give the green light”, “not a good apartment”, “feel sorry for a bird”, “stretch out and cannot pull”, “iron lady”, “hot on the heels”, “with a subtle movement of the hand”, etc. This metaphorical use of familiar precedent texts makes the newspaper text available to most readers, allows the author conveying his thoughts to the reader in an intelligible form.

Another large group is professionalisms: “telephoto lens”, “reimpose”, “vaccine took off”, “follow up” information, “portend a child”, old “hat” (name of newspaper material), “corner” (in box), “render” (film industry), in combat “unloading”, etc.

The significant amount of new words is revealed: “prepensioner”, “pre-retirement”, “bicycle hub”, “metaflu”, “flyboard” (air platform), “attained age”, “lesson battle”, etc.

Colloquial words and phrases are quite numerous: “spray” the opponent, “die on feet” seriously, “throat” sweets, “decompose” a nose, “do shopping”, “traffic cops”, “goodies”, “homework”, “secondary market”, “squares” (about housing), “in civilian jobs”, “navigate” a situation, etc.

These are the most frequent and numerous groups of language tools used with quotation marks.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this paper is to describe the language units made by the author with quotation marks, identify the reasons for such a presentation, determine their composition and distribute them into groups.

Research Methods

The work uses a comprehensive technique, including semantic, stylistic analysis and description. The material of the study included the language units used by the author in quotation marks. These lexical units are distinguished by the method of continuous sampling from the texts of (2018–2019), the official press organ of the Government of the Russian Federation. The appeal to this publication is not fortuitous since it retains a certain conservativeness in the use of lexical units, it is less influenced by language fashion.

Findings

The result of this study involves the definition of the main means of expressiveness represented by words and phrases in quotation marks, the main reasons for such style of language means in the newspaper are revealed, groups of these units are described. The language of modern media directly reflects the processes taking place in the Russian language. Genre-thematic texts of mass media are quite diverse. News materials, comments, interviews, reviews on various topics (society, economics, politics, culture, science, etc.) are typical for newspapers. An important feature of the modern newspaper text is the light presentation of information and the lack of complex terminology. The functional characteristic of quotation marks as punctuation marks changes. Back in the early 2000s, linguists identified a group of the so-called emotive signs (exclamation mark, ellipsis, quotation marks) (Budnichenko, 2004). Our study showed that along with the traditional use of quotation marks (quotes, other people’s speech, various names, foreign elements, etc.), the frequency of their use as an emotive sign has significantly increased. If earlier linguists noted the use of quotation marks in the media text mainly to create a comic expression of the author’s ironic attitude to any fact, phenomenon, then the results of our analysis show that in the newspaper language of the last two years the quotation marks form precedent texts, as well as, most often, colloquial, jargon words and phrases.

A quantitative increase in spoken and colloquial vocabulary has been established. A significant group is made up of professionalisms. Neologisms or new borrowed word are also quite numerous.

Quotation marks are used, as we see, mainly to create a certain stylistic color of the newspaper text. But the official status of obliges the author, when using foreign elements and nonstandard vocabulary, to distinguish it in a special way. This emphasizes some of the conventions of the existence of such units in the texts of this particular publication.

It was revealed that along with the main function of quotation marks as a punctuation mark, their role in creating the author’s style has significantly intensified.

There is a growing tendency to use quotation marks to introduce “informal” language units into the newspaper text.

The prevailing use of quotation marks to create the effect of irony in 2018–2019 was squeezed out by precedent texts, impersonations, etc. Changes in the newspaper language are steadily increasing. The monitoring of this process helps to determine the trend of the development of the newspaper language at a given time. Based on the results of the study, linguists have the opportunity to conduct further research in the field of describing the processes of the newspaper language development.

Conclusion

The study showed that in the language of (2018–2019) the number of language tools serving to create the author’s emotional contact with the addressee is actively increasing. To increase the expressiveness of content, the journalist resorts to precedent texts, elements of colloquial speech, professionalisms. These foreign inclusions are used with quotation marks. On the one hand, the format of involves the use of general literary vocabulary, on the other, the desire to establish contact with the reader forces the author to use the opposite rmeans. The solution in such cases is the use of quotation marks. Since this vocabulary actively replenishes the newspaper language, we observe a quantitative increase in words and phrases in quotation marks. Quotation marks in the newspaper language are considered as an emotional punctuation mark. There are three quantitatively predominant groups of lexical units used with quotation marks: precedent texts, colloquial vocabulary, professionalisms.

Modern processes taking place in the newspapers language require continuous monitoring, observation and make it possible to understand the processes taking place in the modern Russian language as a whole.

References

  • Budnichenko, L. A. (2004). Expressive punctuation in journalistic texts (based on newspaper language) [Doctoral Dissertation]. St. Petersburg.

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Publication Date

17 May 2021

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Science, philosophy, academic community, scientific progress, education, methodology of science, academic communication

Cite this article as:

Minakova, N. A., Talybina, E. V., & Nikulina, E. A. (2021). Foreign Elements In Modern Newspaper Text: The Russian Newspaper For 2018–2019). In D. K. Bataev, S. A. Gapurov, A. D. Osmaev, V. K. Akaev, L. M. Idigova, M. R. Ovhadov, A. R. Salgiriev, & M. M. Betilmerzaeva (Eds.), Knowledge, Man and Civilization - ISCKMC 2020, vol 107. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 1101-1106). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.05.147